Tahir Anwar – Support MCC Operations & Nurture the Spirit of Ramadan Throughout the Year
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As I was driving here about an hour
or so ago,
I actually haven't been to any other masjid
in the Bay Area this Ramadan except SBIA,
my own masjid.
I've done a little bit of traveling
and maybe a few fundraisers here and there.
I chose for this Ramadan to be, fairly
focused Ramadan for myself,
just so that I could spend some time
with the Quran really,
and just focus on my Ibadah.
The year is very, very busy,
and there's a lot that's going on. Despite
that, I've been to the East Coast twice
in the last 6 days. I flew, came
back, flew, and came back.
The reason I share all of this is
because
as I was as I took as I
was taking the exit and as I was
driving down,
I was reminded that it wasn't too long
ago
that I did a fundraiser for MCC in
Ramadan while I was in an empty room
and a computer in front of me.
Right? You remember that,
COVID,
where all of us were glued to our
screens,
and I recall, I actually vividly recall just
sitting there,
you know, an empty room, computer, a camera
in front of me, and trying to raise
funds and we were successful, alhamdulillah.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has brought us
a very, very long way since then.
And one thing that
I have been talking to a lot of
people about, there's one massive
problem
that every Masjid in America has had this
year,
and that is space issues.
Every
single Masjid is full.
No matter whether you talk to
people who are praying in a community center,
people praying inside a Musala,
people praying inside a large masjid,
wherever it may be, the masjids
are packed,
and it almost seems like there's new faces.
Like, I look around the room, and there's
so many people I just don't know.
And a few years ago, that was not
the case. It was almost like we knew
most people that we when we came to
the masjid, if we if I wouldn't know
you by name, I at least knew you
by face, like, yeah, that's a familiar face.
So almost like the entire and as I
came home today,
earlier today, I was just talking to my
brother, he goes, how was Jum'ah? And I
said, it was packed. He said the exact
same thing for me. In other words, brothers
and sisters, the reason I share all of
this is because
the masjids are full.
The masjids are being utilized
to their maximum
capacity,
potentially even beyond their maximum capacity.
Right? Parking,
water bill, gas bill is just packed. And
the people are coming.
And that's a sign that everyone loves Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Everyone wants to get close to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
chosen for us to be amongst those individuals.
Okay. We all have a place to pray.
We're not praying outside,
right? We're being we're all fed. I'm sure
everyone here, you're full, alhamdulillah.
Maybe it was Friday, you ate a little
more than you should have.
And if you ate less, it was out
of choice, not because you didn't have food.
Right? We we didn't make iftar with grass
today as people in Gaza are reported to
have been making. We have a lot to
be grateful for.
We have a lot to be grateful for,
and I say this and I say this
again,
that
everything
in our orbit is a part of our
nasib.
Right? Generally, when we think naseeb or rizq,
we usually think of money, we usually think
young people when they hear the word naseeb,
they're thinking of
spouse, marriage, yeah, naseeb.com.
But in any case, young people, when we
hear the word naseeb, we have all these
things that we think of. But in reality,
our family is our naseeb.
Our community
is our naseeb, is our risk.
Right? Our must our local masjid is a
part of our rizq, is a part of
the sustenance that Allah has given to us.
For us to be able to be to
be able to pray behind
an individual who recites the Quran so beautifully,
We know if we go to the MCC
for salatul taraweeh, we are going to get
a class taraweeh inshaAllah.
Right? We're not gonna have any issues with
our taraweeh inshaAllah. We're gonna go for prayers,
we're gonna get a good kateeb. This is
all part of our nasib.
This is all part of our nasib. And
before I begin asking for funds, brothers and
sisters, I just want you to close your
eyes for a few seconds
and to be able to say, alhamdulillah.
You Allah, I'm grateful to you for these
amazing
blessings that you have given to me in
order for me to remain
a good practicing Muslim
for some of us in a land far
away from home where we couldn't have even
imagined this some years ago.
And you Allah, we're grateful to you for
this, and we ask you that this remain
a blessing for us for as long as
we live. Ameen You Rabbil Alemen.
Brothers and sisters, it goes without saying none
of these things happen for free. Right? All
of all these lights that are turned on,
these TVs that happen to be there, the
hot water that we use, the water that
we flush, the parking lot that gets paved,
all this costs a lot of money.
Right? And this is not back home where
we can get things done, you know, under
everything has to be up to code. Everything
is permitted. Everything costs money, and this costs
a lot of money. Also, I wanna share.
If this community wouldn't have been generous,
if you wouldn't have been people who would
give, no one would be asking you.
Right? People only come to people who give.
Right? If you happen to be a giver,
naturally someone's gonna come knock on your door
and say, can you please help me? If
they know you to be stingy, they're not
gonna knock on your door. They're gonna move
on to the next door. Right? This is
a very, very generous community. We ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala that may Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
facilitate for us to be successful in our
fundraising tonight. Say, Ameen. Do we have our
first donor someone who's gonna start us off
tonight with $25,000
who believes that this happens to be their
masjid. This has been a good year for
them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed them
immensely, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has been
very, very kind to them. And they feel
like this masjid has done
immensely for their family,
for themselves, and they feel like they're in
a place, in a beautiful place right now
where they can make that contribution of $25,000.
Now Barvez Bay made it very clear. He
told me in my ear as well before
he came up. He said there's no no
promises yet. We haven't done any pre fundraising.
So we're simply just asking for your generosity.
Is there one individual or one family who's
willing to say that I'm willing to make
a contribution
of $25,000
to my local masjid? If you do the
math, it's about $2,000
a month. It is a lot of money.
$25,000 is not easy to come. It's very,
very difficult, but I really want you to
look into your heart. Think of what this
masjid has done for you. Think of what
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has done for you.
Think of the rewards with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, and no one would come to you
unless you are a generous individual, unless you
are a generous family. We plead and we
ask for your generosity tonight. Do we have
someone to start us off at $25,000?
One individual or one family who says, you
know what? I can do this insha Allah.
It's a little bit of a push. It's
a little bit of a stretch, but it's
something that I can do. Do we have
our first individual at $25,000
May Allah bless you and your family. May
Allah reward you and your family. We ask
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to inspire one of
us in this room to raise our hands
at $25,000
Brothers, I know we all have to pray,
talaweed, myself included, but we need to make
this happen. It's very, very difficult. Anyone at
25,000
tayib inshaAllah, we'll make this easy inshaAllah. Do
we have 2 individuals at
$15,000 Do we have our 1st donor tonight
at $15,000
Someone any be careful, you scratch your nose,
I almost someone just scratched their nose, I
got happy, mashallah.
Any
Anyways, whoever scratched their nose, may Allah grant
them tawfiq to make that $15,000
contribution soon insha'Allah. Say amen. Anyone at $15,000
brothers and sisters, we have 1, takbir.
Allahumatimunfiqan
salafaa, say amen. Do we have a second
individual at $15,000?
A second individual or a second family at
15,000 Oh, you want me to speak here?
Okay. Sorry. Sorry. That's okay. That's okay. Got
3 microphones now.
Does that mean 3 times the money?
Okay. A second individual, a second individual to
match our 1st contributor at $15,000.
Do we have anyone at 15,000 brothers and
sisters? You gotta have at least 1 person
in the room, inshallah.
I'm hoping that you're about to raise your
hands for $10,000
but Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will grant you
the tawfiq, insha Allah, to raise your hands
at 15,000.
Do we have a second individual to start
us off tonight, insha Allah? A brother or
a sister? Allah
has been very, very kind to you, and
this is something that you feel that you
want to do to do your part for
your local community. May Allah bless you and
your families, inshaAllah. Our second donor at 15,000
will come, inshaAllah.
Brothers and sisters, there's not a single masjid
in the Bay Area
that facilitates
5 Jummah operators. There's not a single one.
In fact, MCC
is not just one of the largest and
quickest growing masjids in the Bay Area. It's
probably one of the quickest growing masjids in
the entire country.
Right? I haven't I haven't seen any community
grow this fast. Right? It's a humongous masjid.
It's a humongous operation.
A very large operation.
That's why we're really appealing to your generosity.
Do we have anyone last call at $15,000?
Someone who says, you know what? I'm gonna
make this sacrifice. At this point, the onus
is on you.
Right? The onus is on every single one
of us.
If if you can give a $1,000,
whatever you can give, please give for the
sake of your masjid.
Honestly,
not even doing don't think that you're doing
the masjid a favor. By giving that 1,000,
just thank Allah that Allah has put you
within a few minutes, a few miles
of one of the most vibrant, most beautiful
masjids
in this country.
And you just wanna thank Allah.
And you just want that this blessing remains
with you and your family and your progenies
for as long as they live. This is
some these are things you don't plan.
These are things. Right? If you would have
moved to Pleasanton 15 years ago, this was
not this didn't happen. Right? These these things
that you don't plan them. Allah plan Allah
plans everything. Allah plants you in different places.
May Allah bless us all and reward us
all. Jazakumullah khair once again to all of
you for your generosity.
I apologize for coming between you and your
salafu tarawih. Please forgive me and my family
in these blessed nights.
Make du'a for the entire Ummah. Make du'a
for me. Let's make make du'a for yourselves,
make du'a for your families, make du'a for,
the entire community,
and make du'a for our reciters who lead
us
in every every night, especially for
our elder teacher, my brother,
Qariama. May Allah bless him and reward him
and his family,
and may Allah grant Jannah to his parents
and to his teachers who have passed away,
who facilitated
him for this community. May Allah bless all
of us.
Is that a handout?
Masha'Allah. What is that? 52?
I don't know. 52. Insha'Allah. May Allah bless
you.